ShareThisIn the U.S., Heinz means ketchup. Beans? Not so much.
For decades, the food company has been a bit player in the U.S. baked bean market. But Heinz is in the midst of expanding its recession-ready assortment of offerings, and that means trying to bring some of its international expertise in the bean business back home.
Four flavors of its new HomeStyle Beans are rolling out in grocery stores around the country, after successful tests last fall in several markets.
Customers will choose from traditional combinations such as brown sugar and bacon; molasses and pork; and maple flavor, as well as the trendier Chipotle BBQ Style.
For U.S. customers, Heinz officials tapped the expertise of the company's Canadian operation and offered 12 to 14 recipes to choose from, said Noel Geoffroy, vice president, Heinz Brands/U.S. Consumer Products.
The beans are made in the company's Leamington factory, in Ontario, Canada. The 16-ounce cans will run around $1.39 per can. That's about the price point that Heinz officials started mentioning last year as important to customers living paycheck to paycheck.
It's a little bit of a mystery why the Pittsburgh company's U.S. line has been so limited. According to company-supplied history, the business first started selling baked beans in the U.S. in 1895. In the 1950s, company records show it offered U.S. customers several flavors of baked beans. Sometime around the 1970s, Heinz seemed to pull back.
Bush Brothers and Co., a private company based in Chestnut Hill, Tenn., now leads the $530 million category, according to SymphonyIRI Group, a Chicago-based market research firm that track sales through supermarkets, drugstores and mass market retailers, excluding Wal-Mart, warehouse stores and convenience stores.
In the 52 weeks that ended Dec. 25, Bush's sales hit about $365 million, followed by Conagra Foods Inc. with $80 million in sales, according to SymphonyIRI. Private label baked beans accounted for about $32 million in sales, while Heinz USA baked beans tallied just over $5 million.
Market research showed Bush's sales number dipped slightly in that period, while Heinz sales were up 4.6 percent and private label brand sales rose 5 percent.
No question, baked beans are among the top side dishes in American homes, said Harry Balzer, a vice president with market research firm NPD Group Inc.
Heinz might be able to get customers to try its offering just by being a new face in a familiar, and popular, category, he said. After that, the company will need to have some version of the best taste, right price or convenient packaging to keep shoppers coming back.
(Contact Teresa F. Lindeman at tlindeman(at)post-gazette.com.)
(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
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